Sports
Arsenal Gunners Signs Nigerian Young Gun
Refurbished in 2017 Hale End Training Academy, Arsenal‘s institute for its youth development programme has over the years become witness to the development and rise of a great many young gunners. The Academy responsible for turning them into fully fledged world level football players pays particular respect to Arsene Wenger’s approach and philosophy aimed at cultivating budding young talent to develop into globally recognised football stars.
The Frenchman and his unique philosophy became greatly responsible for progressing players like Jack Wilshere, Maitland-Niles, Kieran Gibbs, and Alex Iwobi until they made it into his top squad before his untimely exit. His legacy stuck & still lives on at the Gunners Academy since it has not stopped producing highly skilled players.
This brings us to a young Gunner student of football by the name of Folarin Balogun who just may prove himself as Hale End Academy’s very next star. The youth’s performance may have identified him as part of the set of top-rated players earmarked for a possible position in Arsenal’s first team squad sometime during the season.
The 17-year-old New York born Nigerian showed a definite propensity to become a prodigious goal-scorer able to strike form any attack position. Tipping the scales further in his favour is his Arsenal U17-18 track-record that reflects 28 goals scored during all competitive matches for the team, with 23 goals cracked in just 22 matches.
Players who consistently rack up these kind of statistics are certain to become a firm favourite amongst football fans, especially those who love placing a wager or two to back-up their support of their favourite players or teams at one of the top online bookmakers such as Silentbet, a dedicated sports betting affiliate that has detailed and informative bookmaker reviews.
Balogun’s meteoric rise could see him included in Unai Emery’s game plan for the upcoming season, and he may just have an excellent chance to impress the Spanish tactician since he is most likely slated to accompany the Gunners on their pre-season tour during the latter part of the year.
Despite his extraordinarily successful featuring in England’s U17 & 18 squads and admittedly being enormously proud of signing his first professional contract with Arsenal, he still remains eligible in future to play senior level football for either the USA or Nigeria.
At the time of signing his first contract, Folarin Balogun had been with the Arsenal since 2010, and in his own words, he expressed his desire to keep focussed & progressing to ensure his eventual inclusion in the first team.
During an interview, he revealed that he had become a more clinically proficient finisher and as a result racked up a tally of 22 goals in his last 23 matches. He went on stating he had invested a lot of work and time in training in an attempt to improve and acquire a variety of ways to finish, this he feels will make him ready, so when the opportunity arises, he has the correct solution and matching skillset to maximise his chances of achieving success.
Hon Dike who spoke with sports journalists shortly after the flag off the 2024 edition of Chairman’s Football Unity Tournament at Botem Tai in Tai LGA, said the tournament is an annual event to promote peace and unity in Tai as well identify budding talents in the area for global competition.
The opening ceremony of the tournament was more like a carnival was witnessed by huge crowd including prominent indigenes of Ogoni Kingdom, sports lovers and people from all works of life.
The LGA boss revealed that special sports committee will be setup in the area to work out modalities to strengthen sports development in Tai.
He advised the participants in the tournament from various wards in the LGA to play the game by the rules and conduct themselves in a peaceful and orderly manner and use the opportunity to showcase their talents.
Hon Dike further disclosed that his administration will also give priority attention to skills development among the youth to enhance their human capacity and promote enterprise development in the area.
Earlier in his address the Chairman of Tai LGA Football Council, Elder Wisdom Gorgor said the annual football competition has been a unifying factor in Tai LGA that need to be sustained to forge more unity and development in the area.
He urged the participants to see the competition as an opportunity to embrace football as a full career and earn sustainable livelihood.
Elder Gorgor who commended the Chairman of Tai LGA, Hon Dike for his visionary leadership and tremendous development achievements recorded in the LGA under his administration, appealled to the Chairman to build a Mini Sports Stadium in the area to promote sporting activities.
The training was held at the Sani Abacha Stadium Indoor Basketball Court in Kano last Saturday.
According to the Vice President and Head of NBA Nigeria, Gbemisola Abudu, the event was part of the league’s commitment to growing broader basketball ecosystem in Nigeria and making the game more accessible across the country.
“Our first Jr. NBA clinic in Kano speaks to our commitment to growing the game in Nigeria and creating more opportunities for boys and girls to learn and play the game,” Abudu said.
“Nigeria has a rich basketball history and abundance of talent, which is evident every time you watch an NBA game. We look forward to continuing to engage with basketball stakeholders, business leaders and members of the community to further the game’s reach and impact on young people around the country,” she added.
The 2024 basketball initiative clinics of NBA Nigeria also included the league’s inaugural Jr. NBA elite camp for 150 boys and age-16 girls held at the American International School in Lagos in July.
Others include the NBA’s building of 1,000 courts in Africa over the next decade, Nigeria’s Festival Coins and Salubata named the top two winning businesses at NBA Africa Triple-Double Accelerator’s inaugural Demo Day in New York City held last September, and the third edition of “NBA Meets Art,” a curated installation celebrating basketball through the lens of Nigerian art and culture as part of West Africa’s premier art fair Art X Lagos, held in November.
Central to this vision is the federation’s investment in capacity building, evident in the just-concluded one-week Level 1 Badminton World Federation (BWF) Coaching Course, which marked a significant milestone for Nigerian badminton.
Held in Abuja, the course brought together 13 young coaches from across Nigeria. The last time such a course was held in the country was in 2017, making this a historic and transformative step.
The training was facilitated by the Badminton Confederation of Africa (BCA) in partnership with the Badminton Federation of Nigeria (BFN) and conducted by Dr. Ahmed Radah, the BCA Development Manager.
Radah, impressed by the talent he witnessed, praised Nigeria’s potential.
“Nigeria is blessed with immense talent and a strong badminton tradition. I believe this country has what it takes to dominate on the global stage,” he remarked.
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